No, not that sort of PCC, though there are probably more people who vote in annual elections for C o fE Parochial Church Councils than are forecast to vote tomorrow.
Here are the candidates for Avon and Somerset, for the post of Police and Crime Commissioner. Here's the official national website, and the local bit for our area. Sorry about that, but I've now taken away any case you had about not being sufficiently informed.
This may be the most bodged election since the Libdems AV campaign - date, publicity, concept etc. But it's still an election, and it will have an effect on policing. The more we engage with the process, the more we'll get the kind of policing response we want. I'm planning to vote, and will be voting Independent. It's a nonsense otherwise: this is an attempt to put policing more into the hands of local communities, and I don't see how that can be done if the PCCs are there to represent a political party. It immediately gives them someone else to answer to - they are only candidates in the first place because of party approval.
There were lots of complaints on the radio today about lack of information, from people who, with a bit of effort and poking around on the web could have found out all they needed to know. Whose responsibility is it, the states to inform us, or us as electors to become informed? It's a very odd and depressing form of dependency.
Or maybe we are getting tired/bored with democracy. I guess we've had it too long and it's far more exciting to vote for some leggy blonde on X Factor whose name we won't even remember in 3 months time, just to see Louis Walsh get all wound up again. But we can't admit to being tired or bored, so we'll blame the state for making it hard for us. Or we dress up being too apathetic to vote as a 'protest vote'
If you want somewhere where the state makes it hard for people to vote, try North Korea, Iran, or most of the former Soviet states.
Here's the polling stations in South Somerset for tomorrow. See you there?
These were elections where the government made it much harder for candidates and the electorate by refusing to pay for mailshots from the candidates to explain their stance.
ReplyDeleteThese were elections which most people did not want in the first place.
These were elections where it was unclear what would differentiate one candidate from another (I did go on the websites. All the candidates were for the police and against crime.)
These were elections which the government chose to hold in November, when turnout is normally 5-6% lower.
These were elections in which voting (unfortunately) gives some legitimacy to the whole idea of political policing in the first place.
Don't blame the people for not voting in this election.